US Senate Bill Would Give Same Biz Tax Break To Hybrid, Hummer Buyers

[hatrack]

U.S. Senate bill introduced would level the playing field in tax policies that give bigger breaks to small business owners who buy large SUVs than those who buy environmentally friendly hybrids.

Besides allowing tax deductions of up to $100,000 for hybrid vehicles and vehicles that use fuel alternatives to gasoline, the legislation introduced Wednesday by Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Montana Sen. Max Baucus, the committee's top Democrat, would allow small business owners to claim depreciation on the value of their vehicles not covered by the deduction.

Tax deductions of up to $25,000 for SUVs weighing more than 3 tons have long been criticized by environmentalists who say they reward business people for buying gas guzzlers like the Hummer or Ford Excursion. Car dealers and small business owners say the SUV breaks help businesses and automaking, a key part of the economy.

The Associated Press reported last month on the disparity between tax benefits for hybrids and large SUVs. Small business owners get up to $3,150 in tax credits for buying a hybrid, just like anyone else.

EDIT

http://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/11881571p-12652606c.html

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Gotta keep those car makers in the black so we have a great economy as

the world shrivels away to dust. *siiigh*

[mongo]

2. The reason that business get a tax break on SUV's

(not that I agree with this)

The way depreciation is handled is that once a vechicle is over a certain weight (5,000 lbs?), it can be depreciated over a shorter length of time than a passenger car.

The reasoning is so that you can depreciate heavy equiptment (dump trucks and backhoes), and equiptment to haul other equiptment over a shorter time, since they are usually used up faster.

SUV's over a certain weight get the loophole because of this, but they should be depreciated on the same schedule as a passenger car.

Glad to see they've given a break to hybrids. Just like SUV sales were fueled by business -- this will only help sales of hybrids, and to drive down costs.

[rfkrfk]

3. that's not the story I heard

I thought it was something like...

...........
for business loan-outs for use as personal cars,
above 25 thousand, { or something like that ]

the amount above 25 k is a 'perk',
and is not 'expense-able' to the business.

but that changed in the Bush era,
as Hummers and stuff were not constrained by the '25 k' limit.

[mongo]

4. I hadn't heard that

We haven't really looked into it too much since the business doesn't really need a vechicle. I was just going on what Daisy had told me a couple of years ago.